The Fear of COVID-19 Infection in Older People.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the levels of COVID-19-related fear and to investigate fear-associated factors among older people. METHODS: This study was conducted with patients aged 65 years and older from the Family Medicine Clinic of Health Sciences University Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Hospital over a 1-month period. A telephone survey was administered to evaluate patients' sociodemographic data and knowledge level on the COVID-19 pandemic and the degree of its impact. The fear levels of participants were determined using the fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 15.0. A p value of < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The study included 315 participants: 178 were female and 137 were male. The mean age was 71.5 ± 5.6 (min: 65, max: 94) years, and 26 participants were living alone. Moreover, 47.6% participants considered they had sufficient information about the COVID-19 outbreak, and 61.6% received information about the pandemic from television and 22.2% from their inner circle. While 11.7% participants considered they would require psychological support after the COVID-19 pandemic, 30.8% had sleep disorders for the last month. The mean FCV-19 S score was 16.0 ± 6.4; the FCV-19 S scores were statistically higher in participants who were women, living alone, had partial information about the COVID-19 pandemic, had sleep disorders for the last month, and were in requirement of psychological support after the pandemic. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to screen the older people for the COVID-19-related fear and accompanying psychological disorders and to develop appropriate intervention programs for individuals at risk.

Evaluation of Job Strain of Family Physicians in COVID-19 Pandemic Period- An Example from Turkey.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate family physicians' job strain during the Covid-19 pandemic and determine the effective factors. The study was carried out between 01 May 2020 and 01 June 2020 by applying an online questionnaire to family physicians who worked in primary care in Istanbul and could be reached by telephone application. The survey created by us included socio-demographic information and the Job Strain Scale Short Form. P value was accepted as 0.05, and SPSS 20 package program was used in statistical analysis. 448 Family Physicians participated in the study. Anxiety levels of the participants increased after the pandemic (p < 0.001). Job strain score increased significantly during the pandemic process (p < 0.001). The 'Workload' sub-dimension of the job strain score was affected by young age, not having children, thinking that the working hours increased, deterioration of sleep quality and increasing anxiety level. It was determined that there was an increase in the "Control" sub-dimension score of family physicians who thought that they were not provided with adequate protective equipment during the pandemic process and who did not find the use of their own personal protective equipment sufficient. 'Social support' sub-dimension mean score decreased during the pandemic period. It was determined that it significantly increased in married family physicians compared to single ones. In the pandemic process, anxiety, sleep quality deterioration and job strain increased significantly. In family physicians, after the pandemic, workload and control sub-dimension changes increased, while social support sub-dimension decreased.

Frequency And Factors Associated With Adverse Reactions After Administration of Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine Among Health Workers.

BACKGROUND: The 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) has precipitated a significant public health crisis. Our study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors associated with adverse reactions to the inactivated CoronaVac vaccine. METHODS: The study involved voluntary health workers who received CoronaVac vaccine. We documented the sociodemographic information of 2,019 participants who volunteered for our study. Of these, 1,964 and 1,702 participants were interviewed by phone 1 month after the first and second dose, respectively, during which they were queried about any adverse reactions. RESULTS: Within the first week after the first dose, adverse reactions were observed in 856 (43.3%) participants, with 133 (6.7%) experiencing them during the second week, and 96 (4.9%) people at the end of the first month. For the second dose, 276 individuals (16.2%) reported adverse reactions. The prevalence of both local and systemic adverse events ranged from 9.5-11.2% overall. Fatigue was the most common adverse reaction overall, while pain at the injection site was the most frequent local adverse reaction. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation of both systemic and local side effects revealed no significant adverse reactions to the inactivated CoronaVac vaccine (Sinovac Life Sciences, Beijing, China). Our study found that the incidence of systemic and local adverse responses to the CoronaVac vaccination was lower than the rates reported in studies involving the recombinant adenovirus type-5, BNT162b1, and ChAdOx1nCoV-19 COVID-19 vaccines, all of which underwent the World Health Organization LULUC/PQ evaluation process.

Adult vaccine-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in Turkey.

Purpose: Adult vaccination, which is among the duties of family physicians, is an important issue that reduces morbidity and mortality. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of adults about adult vaccines. Materials and Methods: This study is a descriptive, cross-sectional research; which was performed by a questionnaire including sociodemographic data and questions about adult vaccination to the patients and their relatives who applied to Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital Family Medicine Polyclinics for any reason. Mean, standard deviation and chi-square tests were used for the analysis; p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: The study included 182 people, 93 of them were women (51.1%) and 89 (48.9%) were men. The mean age was 32.9±12.8 years; most of them (n=144, 79.1%) were high educated and 38.5% were married. The most known vaccine was tetanus (n=154, 84.6%), the least known was zona vaccine (n=30, 16.5%). Health care professionals and television (n=60, 33%) were the most information sources about vaccines (n=78, 42.9%). Vaccination was mostly (26.9%) recommended by family physicians 144 (79.1%). The students had more knowledge about human papilloma virus (HPV), zoster, and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines (p≤0.05), and mostly the information was got from internet and school (p≤0.05). As education status increased, knowledge about tetanus, hepatitis A, pneumonia, and HPV vaccines increased significantly, whereas only tetanus vaccination was performed in practice (p≤0.05). As the income increased, knowledge about pneumonia and HPV vaccines increased, but vaccination was not performed as expected. Conclusion: Age, occupation, education, and income level are directly related to knowledge and attitudes about adult vaccination. Adult vaccines are still not known and performed enough in Turkey. It is important to encourage and increase the number of trainings via media on this subject.